Monday, December 26, 2016

Four Stars Books in 2016


Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess
This comes out next week. Originally I gave it three stars, but then I looked around my house and how clean it is, and I had to add a star.
If you are a fan of Hoffman's wonderful tumblr page, you will love this book. This book is more of a how to manual on how to get unstuck rather than how to clean up. There is great advice on how to overcome obstacles that get in the way of your cleaning rather than a cleaning manual itself, that along with the language may turn some readers off.
The highlights of the book are the various chapters on overcoming procrastination, perfectionism and mental health issues. The asking for help chapter seemed to go on far too long.
Overall a quick fun read but there are more in-depth resources available.

The Invoice: A Novel
Karlsson writes weird, short novels about the minutiae of life. What if you got a bill based on the quality of your life? I know that some of us sitting at home in our first world countries would be scared right now.

Library Lil (Picture Puffins)
I liked the story in this kids book, but I don't really care for this kind of illustration. It's just a personal preference though.

Sex Criminals, Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop
More adventures from this comic.

Sex Criminals Volume 3: Three the Hard Way (Sex Criminals Tp)
And here is where it started to go bad. It didn't help that I read it after catching up on Saga. I probably won't continue with this series because the joke is getting kind of old.

Nicotine: A Novel
New protesters squat in houses and try to save the world while using smartphones and social media. Probably my new favorite author of the year.

Disgrace: A Novel
A book club read about a sociopath. It was nice to read something about South Africa but I am afraid some of the politics of the region may have been lost on me.

The Stranger Beside Me
Fueling my new interest in True Crime, I had to go back and read the classics. This is an interesting tale of how sociopaths work.

Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial
This book seems as much about followers of Islam as it is about the crime, and that's not a bad thing.
I was worried because I felt that Ms. Chaudry would be too biased to write a great book about this subject. Even if you feel that she is biased, there is no denying that Adnan did not receive a fair trial. Chaudry raises a ton of concerns about the case including that the prosecution lied to get a conviction and push credible testimony that would help Adnan away, Jay received compensation for his testimony (and is downright uncredible) and the State was gunning for Adnan and put on a case that was straight up racist.
A must read for fans of Serial.

Bread and Jam for Frances (I Can Read Level 2) This series was the first I can recall that had plot twists when I was a wee reader. It kept me coming back to that spot in the library.

In Cold Blood

The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder
This was the most chilling book I have ever read. A medical thriller, but it actually happened. Cullen probably killed 400 people during his career as a nurse. The scary part was the way the hospitals covered everything up.

When Breath Becomes Air
Heartbreaking, honest and occasionally hard to read.

Sweaterweather: & Other Short Stories
Cute read. I will definitely check out more from this author. She talks about the creative life. I had not read the original edition however.

The Girl on the Train
I am not above a traditional book club read.

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